Overall, cameras arriving at integrators not working was very low, with nearly half saying that less than 1% of cameras were dead, as shown by the statistics breakdown below:

Obviously, from time to time, manufacturers will have a bad run with a problematic component or part. However, overall, if more than 1% of cameras are dead on arrival, that is likely to be competitively not acceptable.

From what higher end manufacturers have mentioned to us on their DoA rate, integrator's real world experiences match well at the 1% or less level.

Average IP Camera Lifespan

Survey respondents answered: "How many years, on average, for your IP cameras to die?"

Unlike DoAs, the average IP camera lifespan varied far more. However, 2/3rds of integrators reported an average of 4 to 6 years.

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One challenge that many integrators noted was that a lot of integrators have simply not been deploying IP cameras long enough to truly know as many integrators only started deploying IP cameras in large numbers in the past 5 years.

Average Falling or Rising?

One critical element these statistics cannot answer yet is whether newer cameras, especially the recent wave of $100 MP cameras, will deliver lower average lifespans. Because most integrators have only been using large numbers of these cameras in the last year or two, it is too early to tell if they will have shorter average lifespans.

Notable Manufacturer Failures

Of the integrators with the highest DoA rates and shortest lifespans, the most common pattern was using no-name Asian brands or Arecont.

None of the bigger Western, Japanese nor Chinese manufacturers (Hikvision / Dahua) had significant negative reports. Indeed, Axis and Sony were the brands integrators cited most frequently positively as having the least failures.

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